Film: Black Panther

GENRE: Action Adventure

RATING: PG-13 for action violence
RUNTIME: 2 hours and 14 minutes

STARRING: Chadwick Boseman (42, Get On Up, Civil War)

Michael B Jordan (Creed, FNL), Lupita Nyong’o (12 Years a Slave)

DIRECTOR: Ryan Coogler (Fruitvale Station, Creed)

WRITERS: Joe Robert Cole (newcomer) & Ryan Coogler (Creed)

PLOT: The new king of Wakanda deals with how to use their resources and defending his throne against a potential threat.

FULL DISCLOSURE: Did not know anything about Black Panther.

STORY STUFF: For the most part, Black Panther is a pretty engaging story. Didn’t know what was going to happen, all I knew is that he wasn’t going to die because he’s in the upcoming Avengers trailer. The fight scenes are sharp, especially with Danai Gurira from The Walking Dead. There’s also some humour and sadness. There was just something missing but I can’t put my finger on it. Maybe the run-time was a bit long.

ACTING STUFF: Great performances all around. My favourite was Letitia Wright (Black Mirror) who was very fun as T’Challa’s sister and tech person. I also always enjoy the talents of Michael B Jordan. It was interesting to see Sterling K Brown in this film, it is very hard to separate him from his role in This Is Us.

ARTISTIC STUFF: I almost never notice costume design, but I was blown away by the creativity and colour of the costumes this time around. That and the art direction/set design was top notch. This film has a great stylish look.

VERDICT: Three and a half stars out of five

SEE IT IF: You love Marvel movies

UPCOMING REVIEWS: Phantom Thread, Game Night?